ANDRES OPPENHEIMER Unlike Brazil, Mexico lures Americans
MONTERREY, Mexico -- When I asked a senior Mexican diplomat whether his country will follow Brazil's steps and begin fingerprinting and photographing U.S. tourists, he responded with a malicious smile, "On the contrary, we'll launch an ad campaign to attract American tourists who won't be going to Brazil."
He wasn't kidding. Although Tourism Minister Rodolfo Elizondo denies that an upcoming advertising campaign aimed at the U.S. market has anything to do with Brazil's recent decision to start photographing and fingerprinting U.S. visitors, the fact is that Mexico is about to launch a $40 million promotional campaign that will stress Mexico's friendliness toward Americans. Its slogan: "Mexico, closer than ever."
You may recall that, after the Bush administration began photographing and fingerprinting visitors from 150 countries earlier this month, as part of its post-Sept. 11 anti-terrorism measures, a Brazilian judge ordered Brazil's federal police to do the same to American tourists. Judge Julier Sebastiao da Silva's ruling said that the U.S. airport screening procedures are "absolutely brutal" and "worthy of the worst horrors committed by the Nazis."
Simplified
After the U.S. State Department complained that some Americans had to stand in line for up to nine hours on arrival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian authorities simplified the procedure -- taking fingerprints of just one finger. But Brazil's left-of-center government has so far supported the judge's ruling.
In a telephone interview last week, tourism minister Elizondo said Mexico's promotional campaign in the U.S. market "will be up to $10 million more" than last year's budget.
"The campaign is not aimed at capturing a portion of Brazil's tourism market," Elizondo said. "It was based on the fact that this will be a key year for Mexico's tourism industry because of the U.S. economic rebound and because we have indications that, considering the current [security] conditions, U.S. tourists are looking for closer and safer places to travel."
My conclusions? Granted, the Bush administration's latest airport screening measures are seen in much of Latin America as a symptom of U.S. cultural arrogance. It's hard to understand why Washington is exempting visitors from 27 countries, mostly European nations, when in fact many Islamic terrorists -- such as Richard Reid, the notorious "shoe bomber" who tried to blow up a Miami-bound jetliner out of the sky in 2001 -- either had European passports or lived in Europe. None of them, as far as we know, came from Latin America.
But Brazil's reaction is a childish gesture at best, and a monument to economic stupidity at worse. Aside from the absurd comparison of the U.S. screenings to Nazi Germany's extermination of millions of people, and the fact that Brazil did not suffer a Sept. 11 terrorist attack that could help explain an overreaction, it illustrates Brazil's incredible neglect of what could be one of its most lucrative income sources -- tourism.
A lot to offer
Brazil is a continent-size country that holds 22 percent of the world's vegetation and 17 percent of its birds, and has a 5,000-mile coastline with 2,045 of the globe's most beautiful beaches. In addition, it has the world's most famous Carnival, the best soccer players, a musical culture with few rivals and some of the most beautiful people anywhere.
Yet with a paltry 3.8 million foreign visitors a year, Brazil ranks 34th among the world's tourism destinations, behind countries such as the Czech Republic, South Africa and Saudi Arabia. When you think that Spain draws 50 million tourists a year and Mexico 20 million, Brazil's performance is pathetic.
Whether it conceived its ad campaign before or after Brazil's temper tantrum, it's hard to blame the Mexican government for trying to make the most of the situation. If I were Mexico's president, I would do the same (and would instruct my tourism minister to vehemently deny any connection to the Brazilian measures). As far as Mexico is concerned, long live Brazil's nationalism!
XAndres Oppenheimer is a Latin America correspondent for the Miami Herald. Tribune Media Services.